Table Of Content

i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page i THE SECRET LIFE OF CATS i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page ii i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page iii THE SECRET LIFE OF CATS EVERYTHING YOUR CAT WOULD WANT YOU TO KNOW C L A I R E B E S S A N T ••HB Master Imprint page.qxd 9/5/11 12:07 Page 1 Published by John Blake Publishing Ltd, 3Bramber Court, 2 Bramber Road, London W14 9PB, England www.johnblakepublishing.co.uk www.facebook.com/johnblakepub twitter.com/johnblakepub This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law.Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those may be liable in law accordingly. ePub ISBN 978 1 84358 620 3 Mobi ISBN 978 1 84358 621 0 PDF ISBN 978 1 84358 622 7 First published in hardback in 2006 ISBN: 978-1-84454-304-5 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher,nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by www.envydesign.co.uk Printed in Great Britain by William Clowes Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk 1357910 8 6 4 2 ©Text copyright Claire Bessant, 2006 Papers used by John Blake Publishing are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. Every attempt has been made to contact the relevant copyright-holders, but some were unobtainable. We would be grateful if the appropriate people could contact us. i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page v For Mum and Dad with love and thanks for all your support i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page vi Contents 2 How it all Introduction xi Began 15 ‘Domesticated’? 17 1 The Perfect Pet 1 The Time Factor 3 3 The Natural The Responsibility Factor 4 The Nurture Factor 5 Cat 21 The Companionship Factor 5 The Female Factor 6 Living Together 23 The One-to-one Factor 7 Group Living 25 The Guilt Factor 8 Communicating 26 The House-proud Factor 8 Long-distance Communication 29 The Feline Factor 9 Communicating at Close Quarters 32 The Cat-flap Factor 10 The Cost Factor 11 The Age Factor 11 The Acceptance Factor 12 The Cat – A Perfect Pet 12 i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page vii 4 What Makes a 7 Living Cat? With Us 37 79 The Perfect Design 38 What is it About Cats? 79 Making Comparisons 81 Meeting, Greeting and Talking 84 Sleep and Catnaps 87 The Joy of Touch 89 Grooming 91 Feeding 94 A Clean Job 100 5 The Hunter 49 How Cats Hunt 51 8 Intelligence 6 Cat Talk and Training 55 105 Smell Talk 55 Measuring Intelligence 106 Body Talk 56 Releasing the Potential 110 Talk Talk 69 Training Techniques 110 Rewards 115 Punishment? 116 Acts of God 117 Who Trains Whom? 118 Fetch! 119 i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page viii 9 What Cats 11 How to Make Want a Cat Happy 123 177 Company 178 Safety 180 Health 184 Fitness 187 10 The Intensity of the Cat-Human Relationship 12 Stress and 149 What Makes us Close to our Cats? 149 Health 189 How People Approach Cats 154 Bribery 155 Improving Security with scents 193 Competition 155 Overattached Cats 193 Do we want Independent Cats? 158 Rescued Cats 194 Cleanliness 159 Nervous Cats 195 Non-destructive 160 Aggression 196 Companionship 162 Eating and Stress 198 To Be Loved 163 Night Calling 200 Playful 165 Health and Stress 201 Friendly 166 High Blood Pressure 202 To Fit in with our Lives 166 Lower Urinary Tract Disease 203 To Hunt or not to Hunt 169 No Sexual Behaviour 170 Fitting in with our Beliefs 170 Individuality 172 Beauty 174 What We Don’t Want 174 i-xii Secret Life Cats Prelims 12pp 21/6/06 10:14 am Page ix Glucose Levels 205 Making Introductions 220 Skin Problems 205 Too Many Cats? 223 Immune Changes 206 Indoor Only Cats 224 Bringing Outdoor Behaviour Inside 229 Changes in Behaviour in Cats 231 Pheremones – A Useful Tool 232 Help in the Veterinary Surgery 234 Conclusion 235 13 Getting the Balance Right 209 14 A to Z – Tips Understanding and Respect 209 Choosing the Right Cat 211 for Common Buying a Pedigree Cat 212 Feline Problems Taking on a Moggie 215 239 Providing Some Consistency to The Changeover 217 How Can All of this Help? 217 Getting Another Cat 218